According to fresh sources, Samsung Foundry, the chipmaking branch of the South Korean conglomerate Samsung Group, is expected to announce plans to establish a $17 billion chip facility in the United States.
Mr. Lee-jae Yong, Samsung’s vice chairman, paid his first high-profile visit to the United States over the weekend, meeting with government officials and leaders of technology and biopharmaceutical companies in his first high-profile tour since his release from prison on bribery charges. The chip manufacturing plant will be the second of its sort to be established in the United States recently, with another owned by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) now under development in Arizona.
Mr. Lee’s travel to the United States was first reported last week, with industry sources in South Korea speculating that he would make the trip to settle the location for Samsung’s new chip production plant in the nation. The Korean corporation is now reviewing numerous plant sites and looks to be close to choosing since it has withdrawn certain paperwork filed to Texas authorities. The state is one of three possible places, with Arizona and New York being the other two.
many Korean outlets reported that Mr. Lee has now not only made the trip but Samsung will also announce its decision on the $17 billion plants later this week. The timing for the announcement is given by a US lawmaker, according to Business Korea.
According to the publication:
A U.S. Congressional official who met with Lee said Samsung Electronics would officially announce its plan to build a US$1.7 billion foundry in the United States this week.
The “$1.7 billion” outlined above appears to be a typographical error as several publications such as Reuters have placed a $17 billion price tag for the American chip plant.
In addition to Business Korea, Donga also quotes a Congress official highlighting that the decision to announce the plant has been made.
Donga reports that:
On November 18, Lee met with members of the U.S. Congress responsible for laws on supporting semiconductor investment to request support to pass related laws. An official who attended the meeting said that candidate sites for the foundry will be trimmed down and officially announced this week.
As it tries to catch up to TSMC, the world’s largest contract chip producer, the Korean business expects to start shipping its 3-nanometer chips next year. These will make use of a novel transistor design known as the Gate-All-Around (GAAFET) transistor. For its 3nm process, TSMC, on the other hand, will use standard FinFET transistors.
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